Humorous Short Stories

Humor, of course, crosses all genres. Here’s a list of stories with my brand of humor, which might not be exactly like yours, and some comments about each.

“As Is” (Dec 2007) — When Ryan Svorlin walked into the foreclosed mansion he’d won after the Big Meltdown, the thing that bothered him most was the mess in the kitchen. But then, it was provided ‘as-is’. (This is the start of a series that gets decidedly more serious.)

“Bankers from Outer Space” (Dec 2007) — UniBank VP Irwin Polk thought he’d heard the last of Gruthner when he signed him to an extended contract in deep space. No such luck.

“Candle Spell” (Feb 2009) — Some Yule spell that was. And my only chance of reversing it is somewhere in this display window at Nordstrom’s.

“Common Ground” (Aug 2007) — A lot of dreams vanished when Wander, the rotund cherub in the business suit, trashed Kelmar’s lab setup. Fortunately, payback is a bitch, especially at The Great Interdimensional Library.

“Disarmed” (May 2009) — …and Jerry thought that finding a glass eye under his back yard was wierd.

“Disoriented” (Apr 2008) — Jordan Flemke could usually deal with the changes that followed those waves of dizziness. Not this time.

“Intent” (Jun 2003) — Trade Envoy Ha’akned was understandably proud of the deal he suckered the rubes from Earth into. Assuming, that is, that it was the Earthmen who just got suckered.

“Lost Weekend” (Jun 2003) — Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you made a bad bet. Tell it to the judge.

“Orientation” (Jun 2003) — I thought it was going to be another one of those dreams where you’re unprepared, until I woke up in class.

“Patient Zero” (Oct 2007) — Panicked reports from the office kept Dennis Furlin from paying more attention at the insurance industry conference. Maybe he should have.

“Power” (Jan 2008) — When the Solon brought him into the pitch black room for an audience, the leader thought he could finally get what he was after. But what he learned was so much more.

“Round” (May 2008) — Norwyn Rosset had been stewing in that post-meltdown ghost town for long enough. But now, that chick on the steam-bike looked like his ticket out. [This is part 5 of a series of Business short stories.]

“Site License” (Aug 2007) — I knew there was something strange when the aliens handed us those papers. I just didn’t know how strange.

“Wind-up Pitch” (Mar 2009) — It was the last act of an excessively long diplomatic exchange, and the support crew just realized something the officials had missed.

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I’ve written a series of stories investigating what would happen if corporations were given full rights of citizenship. Well, I thought they were funny…

“Logical Conclusion” (May 2003) — After making it all the way to sentencing, one nosy reporter was all Randolph Starling needed to blow the case.

“Full Circle” (Aug 2007) — Fremont-Wayfarer CEO Edward Reese needed to meet Starling in secret to save his convicted business. Now if only he could stomach being in one of his own motel rooms.

“Prison Break” (Sep 2007) — After he heard the conditions of his company’s sentence, CEO Edward Reese hit on a workaround: put his employees behind bars.

Stories have a way of taking you into directions that you hadn’t expected. The arc that began with the three stories above continued is more serious vein. You can find the entire series listed in my Business Short Stories section.

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As I said, humor crosses genres. The first of these Science Fiction Short Stories gives a serious subject a twist of wry humor. But when I revisited the world on the prodding of a reader, its sequel was not funny at all.

“The A Word” (Jun 2006) — The client who wanted to engage Lamar in a class-action suit had a serious claim, but Lamar wasn’t at all sure the court would take his client seriously.

“Edifice of Lies” (Feb 2008) — Joanna Bjornsen’s past came back one night to haunt her. She was just hoping that was all it would do.